FTX Estate’s Solana (SOL) Liquidation Generates Almost $2 Billion
As part of concentrated efforts to reimburse the plummeted Futures Exchange (FTX) creditors, the FTX estate has liquidated more than half of the exchange’s SOL holdings, realizing about $2 billion. Per a Bloomberg report, the FTX estate completed the sales of about 25 million to 30 million SOL tokens at $64 per coin. Meanwhile, according to Solana’s price statistics, the digital asset is changing hands at about $176, which invariably implies that the $64 selling price mirrored more than 70% discount offer. The token sales attracted interest from top digital assets managers and venture capitalists like Galaxy Trading, Pantera Capital, and Neptune Digital Assets, who raised millions of dollars to partake in the clearance sales. How Top Firms Invested In The Discounted Deal According to reports, Galaxy Trading, with about $620 million, was said to have raised the highest amount for SOL purchases from the FTX estate. The raised sum will generate returns on investment (ROI) for traders via staking, and investors hoping to benefit from the realized fund will remit a 1% management fee. On the other hand, Pantera Capital, another digital assets firm, successfully raised about $250 million to procure SOL from the FTX estate while Neptune Digital Assets, a blockchain firm based in Canada, purchased about 26,964 SOL from the FTX estate at the rate of $64 per coin, around late March. Implications Of The Discounted Sales While the clearance sale pattern might aim at a rapid sell-off to compensate affected FTX investors, probably before this year concludes, the discounted price seems extremely low relative to the coin’s current price, which implies that creditors should not expect any significant increment in the values of their holdings on FTX before its collapse. In a nutshell, the FTX estate is upholding the revised Chapter 11 repayment plan, which states that creditors would be repaid based on the value of their account holdings on FTX as of November 11th, 2022 – the date of the exchange’s collapse. While the above does not seem to go down well with most investors, looking at the brighter side, which entails they don’t lose out completely, remains a better option, considering that it has legal backing, as stated by the FTX Attorney, Andy Dietderich, “I have no wiggle room on that. The Bankruptcy Code says what it says, and I am obligated to follow it.” The best creditors can do now is to ensure they have presented their claims before the announced May 15, 2024, deadline, even as they hope for a favorable final decision in the repayment plans.
Binance CEO Richard Teng Makes Discreet Visit to South Korea Amidst Regulatory Concerns
Seoul, South Korea (Reuters) – Richard Teng, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, reportedly made a secret visit to South Korea on March 27 to discuss regulatory issues with the nation’s authorities, according to local media outlet News1.kr. Teng’s visit was focused on addressing regulatory concerns surrounding Binance’s acquisition of Gopax, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, in late 2022. The CEO engaged in discussions with officials from the South Korean Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and other regulatory agencies. However, due to the confidential nature of the visit, the outcome and full details of the meetings remain undisclosed. FTX Collapse and Gopax Acquisition Binance’s decision to acquire Gopax came at a time when the South Korean exchange was facing a severe financial crisis following the collapse of The Futures Exchange (FTX) in late 2022. Gopax struggled to reimburse its affected users, making Binance’s offer to assume responsibility for the accumulated debt an attractive proposition. After completing the acquisition, Leon Singh Ping, the former head of Binance Asia Pacific, assumed the role of Gopax CEO. The company submitted documentation reflecting the change in ownership and the appointment of a new CEO to the FIU, but the regulatory body remained silent on the matter. Regulatory Hurdles and Compliance Efforts Suspecting that the FIU’s silence might indicate disapproval, Gopax decided to overhaul its executive board and submitted another report. However, the FIU still failed to endorse the changes, citing Binance’s perceived legal risk as a significant concern, particularly in light of the $4.3 billion fine imposed on Binance by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) late last year. Teng’s visit to South Korea aims to address these compliance issues and salvage Gopax by engaging directly with the country’s financial authorities. This move aligns with Teng’s commitment to compliance since assuming the role of Binance’s CEO.